The Marauders Read Book 1
by mizz-shy-gurl
Summary: The Marauders are bored in the Room of Requirement when they find a Book called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. What else can they do but read it. Warning contains SLASH!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it's characters or it's places. These belong to J K Rowling and I don't have enough money for it to be worth your while trying to sue me.**

**Warning: This story contains slash. You get that? It means boyxboy relationship. In this case, Sirius and Remus are together. Don't say that I haven't warned you.**

**Prologue**

In a large comfortable room on the seventh floor, four teenagers sat looking extremely bored.

One very handsome black-haired young man lounged back against the arm of a comfy sofa, huffing to show his mood.

The sandy-haired boy beside him kept shooting him affectionately annoyed glances at him whenever he made these noises as he flicked through the DADA textbook in front of him.

Actually sitting on the sofa, the only female in the room (a fiery red-head with vivid emerald eyes) lay with her eyes closed and her head in the lap of the final occupant of the room.

This boy was athletically built with messy black hair. He stared into space as one hand carded through the red hair in his lap.

"I'm bored." whined the black-haired man who leant against the sofa watching the others.

"I know you are Sirius." the sandy-haired teen answered, "We are as well."

"Everyone's left for the Christmas holidays. There's no-one to enjoy our pranks Remus." Sirius went on.

Sirius continued whining until the others became too annoyed at him. Remus went over to the two on the sofa and whispered, "James, Lily, remember where we are. The Room of Requirement. Why don't we wish for books and we can throw them at him."

James and Lily agreed, and soon all three were throwing books at a startled Sirius, who yelped like a wounded dog.

As Remus was about to throw a further book at his boyfriend, he glanced down and stopped dead in shock. The other three noticed his distraction. They all came over to see what was happening, and Sirius rested his head on Remus' shoulder.

They all gasped at the title and picture on the front of the book.

"'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'? James, do you have a relative called Harry, because the boy on the cover looks remarkably like you." Remus commented.

"No, I know everyone in my family, and there's no-one called Harry." James replied.

"I like the name." Lily said, as Remus opened the cover, before dropping the book in shock.

"What is it Remus?" Lily asked.

"The publication date is 1997!" the boy exclaimed.

"From the future?" came shouts from around him, and he nodded mutely.

"Let's read it!" Sirius said excitedly as agreements rose from the others.

Remus picked the book back up and started reading.

**A/N: **Sorry that it is so short but I wanted to get how they got the book out of the way and didn't want it mixed in with the rest of the story.


	2. The Boy Who Lived

A/N: The disclaimer and warnings from the prologue still apply and will apply for the rest of the story. Please remember that as I will not put it on again.

"**Chapter One - The Boy Who Lived."** Remus began.

"Sounds good so far." Sirius commented.

"**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."**

"They sound boring." Sirius interjected.

"Dursley? Why does that name sound familiar?" Lily asked.

"**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are they?" James asked.

"Drills are equipment used by muggles to make holes." Remus answered, sounding like he had swallowed the dictionary.

"**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours.**

"That woman sounds like my sister Petunia." Lily commented.

"I'm still confused on why the story is named after this Harry Potter, yet all that has been talked about so far are these Dursleys." Sirius said.

"**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."**

"What's the betting that he's a brat?" Sirius asked.

"**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"Hey! What's wrong with Potters?" the whole room shouted.

"**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met in several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

The whole room burst out laughing at that.

"Ha ha. UnDursleyish. It isn't even a word. I'm sure they wouldn't want to be anything like you anyway." Sirius managed to get out.

"**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son too, but they had never even seen him.**

"How bad is it, that they have never seen their nephew, and by the sound of it, it doesn't sound like they want to either." Lily commented.

"**This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

"James must be involved in that." Lily said dryly, though she countered that by her eyes which her laughing.

"**Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair."**

"As we thought, he's a brat." Remus remarked.

"**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window."**

"Wonder who that's to."

"**At half-past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. 'Little tyke,' chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive."**

"That would not be something I would call him." said Sirius.

"**It was on the corner on the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

"Bet it's Minnie." Sirius shouted.

"How would you know that?" Remus wondered, rubbing his ears.

"How many cat animagus forms are there? And before you say anything, you all know that not even kneazles are that smart, close, but they can't read a map."

No-one said anything after that, knowing he had a point.

"**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realise what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.**

"Muggles think anything to ignore magic don't they."

"**Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr Dursley drove round the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said **_**Privet Drive - **_**no, **_**looking**_** at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs. Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day."**

"Wow, what a boring life he must have."

"**But on the edge of town, drills were driven once again out of his mind by something else.**

"He's not got a very big attention span does he?" Remus remarked.

"**As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"Wizards."

"**Mr Dursley couldn't bear people dressed in funny clothes - **

"Yes, what a tragedy."

"Shut up Sirius!" yelled Lily.

"**the get-ups you saw on young people! He supposed it was some stupid new fashion.**

"Only if you could a few centuries as new." James laughed.

"**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see a couple of them weren't young at all; why that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

"Oh how could he dare to wear a cloak?!"

"**But then it struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something - yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills."**

"No, not the drills again!" James exclaimed.

"**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He**_** didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, although the people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"What's so strange about that?" asked Sirius.

"Most people will never have seen an owl." Lily answered.

"But how do you get your post delivered then?"

"Muggles have a person deliver it by hand. Anyway, didn't you take muggle studies?"

"Yes, but only to annoy my parents."

"**Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time. Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He had made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"Pleasant person. I wouldn't like to work for him."

"**He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite."**

"**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. He was on his way Back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying."**

"Something important must have happened for them to be flaunting the Statute of Secrecy." Remus said.

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard -"**

"**- yes, their son Harry"**

"And finally Harry is mentioned."

"**Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it."**

"**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking … no, he was being stupid.**

"Isn't he always?"

"**Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

"It is in this world." James interrupted.

"But it isn't in the muggle world." countered Lily.

"**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think if it, he wasn't sure his nephew **_**was**_** called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"How could he not even know his nephew's name?"

"**There was no point worrying Mrs Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if **_**he'd**_** had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks …"**

"**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon, and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door."**

"**Sorry,' he grunted, as the old man stumbled and almost fell.**

"He knows that word?" Sirius enquired.

"Obviously he does, but only in pig language." James replied.

"**It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare; 'Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day!"**

There was a few seconds of absolute silence, before everyone started cheering and jumping around. After quite a while, Remus calmed down enough to say,

"Voldemort gone? How could this happen? Oh, um, this is in the future I guess."

They all blushed as they realised that this wouldn't happen for years.

"**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off."**

"**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination."**

Sirius and James moaned at that. Not having an imagination was the worst sort of flaw in their opinion, since they always had to use theirs for their pranks. Then use Moony's for his to fine-tune it.

"**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around it's eyes."**

"**Shoo!' said Mr Dursley loudly."**

"Not going to work." Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

"**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

All three boys shuddered at the memory of that look being directed to him, as it had countless times before.

"**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife."**

"**Mrs Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word ('Shan't!'). **

"What a lovely normal new word to learn. How can _she_ talk about other people having problems with their kids when she only has to look at Dudley to find that she has worse ones." Lily exclaimed.

"**Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report of the evening news."**

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping patterns.' The news reporter allowed himself a grin. 'Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGruffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"He obviously knows what's going on. He's either a squib or has magical relatives." Remus observed.

"**Well, Ted,' said the weatherman, 'I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

"Yes they've been celebrating, but not bonfire night." laughed Sirius.

"**Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters …"**

"Wow, he's working it out. He's obviously starter than he acts." James commented sarcastically.

"**Mrs Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. 'Er - Petunia, dear -**

Lily gave a gasp. Everyone turned to her.

"Petunia's the name of my sister. I've just remembered that she recently got engaged to someone named Dursley."

Sirius laughed. "That means that your going to get married to this idiot." he said, pointing at James.

They all realised for the first time that this book really contained the future, and that meant that James and Lily would get married and have a son called Harry.

They were quiet for a minute as they processed everything, before Remus picked up from where he had left off.

"**you haven't heard from your sister lately have you?"**

"**As he expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister …"**

Lily looked saddened at this. She had known that her sister had been jealous of her since she had some to Hogwarts, but it hurt to see how badly her relationship with her sister would get.

"**No,' she said sharply. 'Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news,' Mr Dursley mumbled. 'Owls … shooting stars … and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today …"**

"_**So?**_**' snapped Mrs Dursley."**

"**Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … **_**her lot**_**."**

"Just say it. Wizards and witches."

"**Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'. He decided he didn't dare.**

"Wimp."

"**Instead he said, as casually as he could, 'Their son - he'd be about Dudley age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so.' said Mrs Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Stop lying Tunia. You know you loved that name when we were younger." Lily almost screamed, tears collecting in her eyes.

"**Oh yes,' said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. 'Yes, I quite agree."**

"**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something."**

"**Wsa he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it."**

"Oh what a dreadful thing. Being related to wizards. It's like the opposite of my family." Sirius drawled.

"**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was even if the Potters **_**were**_** involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind … He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect **_**them**_** …"**

"The words. Famous. Last. Words." James stated.

"**How very wrong he was."**

"**Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no signs of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all."**

"She must have been stiff to be sitting so still for so long." Lily commented.

"**A man appeared on the corner that the cat had been watching, appeared to suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed."**

"He must have apparated." Sirius said.

"No, it said he was silent, and apparition makes a cracking noise, so he must have used a portkey." Remus corrected.

"**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"Dumbledore!" exclaimed Sirius.

"It might not be. I mean, why would he be there?" Lily countered.

"Why would Minnie, but she's there."

"**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Ok. Now I admit that this is Dumbledore." Lily admitted.

"And I know that it has been broken twice. I asked." Sirius said smugly.

"**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."**

"**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived on a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"More like he didn't care." Remus commented.

"**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled at muttered, 'I should have known."**

"**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

Remus flinched at the mention of silver.

"**He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"I want one!" Sirius yelled.

"**He clicked it again - the next lamp went flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't have been able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.**

"Think about it Jamsie, Dumbledore and McGonagall together where no-one could see them."

"Ew. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. Must get rid of them!" James squealed.

"**Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it."**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"See, I told you it was Minnie!" Sirius jumped around.

"No-one disagrees with you, now sit down." Remus said, grabbing onto Sirius and pulling him down, so he fell down in a heap.

"**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled."**

"Minnie, you traitor. A _GREEN_ robe?"

"**How did you know it was me?' she asked."**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,' said Professor McGonagall."**

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily."**

"Ah yes, we all distinctly remember Minnie aversion to all parties."

"**Oh yes, everybody's celebrating, all right,' she said impatiently. 'You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news.' She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' window. 'I heard it. Flocks of owls … shooting stars … Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"Diggle, wasn't he that Hufflepuff a few years above us?"

"**You can't blame them,' said Dumbledore gently. 'We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"Eleven years. That makes this happening in three years!" Remus worked out.

"**I know that,' said Professor McGonagall irritably. 'But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets on broad daylight, not even dressed in muggle clothes, swapping rumours."**

"**She threw a sharp sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't,**

"Of course Minnie wants the gossip and she knows the person who will know the truth would be Dumbledore." James said.

"**so she went on: 'A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has**_** gone, Dumbledore."**

"**It certainly seems so,' said Dumbledore. 'We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

"Only Dumbledore would try to hand out a sweet to Minnie when she's like this." laughed James.

"**A what?"**

"**A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"I knew we should never have introduced him to those." Remus commented.

"**No, thank you,' said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment of sherbet lemons. 'As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone -"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible woman like yourself can call him by his proper name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**.' Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. 'It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who'.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"Exactly. People are scared of a bunch of letters put together in a stupid way." Lily said.

"**I know you haven't,' said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. 'But your different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Who - oh, all night, **_**Voldemort**_** - was frightened of."**

"Ew, Minnie is flirting with Dumbledore."

"**You flatter me,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"**Only because you're too - well - **_**noble**_** to use them."**

"Minnie has a crush on our esteemed Headmaster."

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed this much since Madam Pomfrey told me she like my new earmuffs."**

"**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, 'The owls are nothing to the **_**rumours**_** that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him."**

"And here we have Minnie the gossip queen."

"**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer."**

"I hate it when Dumbledore does that." Lily and James both said.

"**What they're saying,' she pressed on, 'is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are - are -"**

Remus turned stark white and dropped the book. The others asked him what was wrong.

"Maybe we shouldn't read this." Remus tried to placate them, but it didn't work. Sirius picked up the book, but after reading on slightly, he paled and dropped the book as well.

Lily and James continued to pester them, and Remus realised that he would have to continue.

"**that they're - **_**dead**_**."**

That stopped everyone in their tracks. The room became silent for a moment, before tears started to fall down Lily's face. James gathered her up in his arms as Remus and Sirius did the same.

"We need to find out more about what happened." Lily said determinedly, as she managed to get her tears under control.

"**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped."**

"**Lily and James … I can't believe it … I didn't want to believe it … Oh, Albus …"**

James laughed shakily. "I didn't know she likes me."

"Of course she does. If she didn't, you Marauders would have been expelled years ago." Lily replied.

"**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. 'I know … I know …' he said heavily."**

"**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. 'That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry."**

"That bastard tried to kill my son!" James yelled.

"**But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

"Wow James, your son's a super kid!" Sirius exclaimed.

"**Dumbledore nodded glumly."**

"**It's - it's **_**true**_**?' faltered Professor McGonagall. 'After all he's done … all the people he's killed … he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding … of all the things to stop him … but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"Yes, that's something I want to know." Remus commented.

"**We can only guess,' said Dumbledore. 'We may never know."**

"**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a gold watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers;**

At this, James, Sirius and Remus took out their watches, which all looked the same as what had been described in the book.

"**instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, 'Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way."**

"**Yes,' said Professor McGonagall. 'And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"That means that my parents are dead." James said, looking down.

"Where are Remus and I? Why can't we take him in?" Sirius asked.

No one knew the answer to that, but they were all wondering whether Sirius and Remus were both dead as well.

"**You don't mean - you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here**_**?' cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. 'Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Sounds like Professor McGonagall agrees with us." said Sirius shakily.

"**It's the best place for him,' said Dumbledore firmly. 'His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter!" shrieked Lily. "That would never be enough to explain, and I have a feeling that they won't explain anything to Harry."

"**A letter?' repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. 'Really, Dumbledore, you thing you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

"**Exactly,' said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses.**

"I don't think he can look like me." Sirius countered as everyone groaned at the old, over-used joke.

"**It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"I can see where he's coming from," Remus said, "but couldn't he be given to a magical family that lives outside the wizarding world?"

"**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, 'Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?' She eyed his cloak suddenly, as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it."**

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it - **_**wise**_** - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"Minnie! You know Hagrid's trustworthy." James cried out.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life.' said Dumbledore."**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place,' said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, 'but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

Everyone stiffened at that.

"**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up in the sky - and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them."**

"I want one!" Sirius screamed, making Remus rub his ears. They were always sensitive this close to the full moon.

Sirius noticed Remus' actions and looked apologetic. "Sorry." he murmured.

"**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_** - long tangles of bushy black hair and a beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets."**

"Hagrid always seems fierce, but he was made for the saying 'gentle giant'." Remus spoke, as Lily cooed at the first meeting of Harry in the book.

"**Hagrid,' said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. 'At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,' said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. 'Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"Yes! The bike's mine!" shouted Sirius, before a frown appeared on his face. "Wait, if I'm around, why don't I have Harry?"

No one had any ideas, so they continued reading.

"**No problems, were there?"**

"**No sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' round. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

They all continued to look down as they remembered that Voldemort had attacked them and left Harry as an orphan.

"**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair**

"Oh no, he has James' hair" teased Sirius.

"**over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning."**

"**Is that where -?' whispered Professor McGonagall."**

"**Yes,' said Dumbledore. 'He'll have that scar forever."**

Lily gasped at that. Visible proof of what happened would always be there for Harry.

"**Couldn't you do something about it Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

"Okay, Dumbledore, that was too much information."

"**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house."**

"**Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?' asked Hagrid."**

Lily was crying by this point, and James quickly put his arm around her.

"**He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog."**

"I find that very offensive." Sirius said, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room.

"**Shhh!' hissed Professor McGonagall. 'You'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry,' sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. 'But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

James had also started crying by this point and the other two were close to it as well.

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found.' Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulder shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out."**

"Oh no, it's a bad sign when that happens. It means he's furious or extremely upset." Remus concluded.

"Are they going to leave Harry on a doorstep on a cold November night?" shrieked Lily, worrying already about her future child.

"It'll be ok Lily." James tried to reassure her, while trying to convince himself. "Dumbledore would have made sure he was ok."

"**Well,' said Dumbledore finally, 'that's that. We've no business staying here. We might as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah,' said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. 'I'll just be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

"**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night."**

"He'd better bring my bike back."

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall,' said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply."**

That got a snigger from them.

"**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four."**

"**Good luck, Harry,' he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone."**

"He'll need it living with my sister." Lily grumbled.

"**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen."**

"I just know he's going to get cold with that wind." Lily worried.

"**Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing that he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…**

They all looked angry at that. How would Harry survive in a place like that. McGonagall had been right, they wouldn't understand him.

"**He couldn't even know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"What a horrible reason to be famous." Remus exclaimed. They all knew that people wouldn't remember what Harry had lost that night, I mean, who wants to be celebrated for the night their parents died.

"Well, I hope the chapters get better than this one." James went on, as none of them thought they could handle the rest of the story being as bad as this chapter had been.

**A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait, but real life got in the way and I lost my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (that's Sorcerer's Stone to those in America).**

**By the way, Happy New Year to all and a Belated Merry Christmas.**


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